Reuben Grilled Cheese - the Ultimate Corned Beef Sandwich (2024)

This reuben grilled cheese recipe is the perfect way to make a corned beef sandwich for St Patricks Day! They're cheesy, meaty, saucy and super crispy! They're basically all that is good in the world! Let's make 'em!

What is a Reuben Sandwich?

A reuben sandwich is one of the most tasty sandwiches you can make. Traditionally, they're made with each one of these 5 ingredients:

1. Corned beef
2. Sauerkraut
3. Swiss cheese
4. Rye bread
5. Russian dressing or Thousand Island dressing

But since I'm the grilled cheese girl, I'm making them into delicious grilled cheese sandwiches by adding extra cheese and grilling it with salty butter.

Ingredients & Substitutions:

FOR THE SAUCE

• Mayo - You could swap the mayo for sour cream if you have an aversion.
• Ketchup - Not a fan of ketchup? Use a little bit of tomato patse with a pinch of sugar
• Wickles Relish - This is easily the best relish on the market and I highly recommend it. If you can't find it, feel free to use sweet pickle relish or chow chow.
• Chipotles - This adds a little bit of heat that goes a long way! You could leave it out or swap it for sambal or a little bit of sriracha.
• Lemon - If you don't have lemon, just use a splash of red wine vinegar.
• Paprika - Looking for a substitue for paprika? You could just leave it our or add a little bit of chipotle powder.

FOR THE SANDWICH

• Marbled Rye - You could use regular rye bread, too.
• Swiss Cheese - Swiss cheese not your thing? No worries! This sandwich is delicious with havarti, fontina, white cheddar or even muenster cheese.
• Corned Beef - I recommend using leftover corned beef from my favorite Guiness Corned Beef recipe.
• Sauerkraut - You could use white or red sauerkraut. If you want to swich it up, you could even try coleslaw but that will be a different type of sandwich.
• Salted Butter - If you're using unsalted butter, just add an extra pinch of salt to make up for it.
• Sauce from Above - You could also use store bought 1000 island if you don't feel like making it yourself.

How to make a Corned Beef Sandwich:

Making my easy Corned Beef Grilled Cheese is a total breeze!

Make the Sauce: Begin by mixing all of the sauce ingredients together and set aside. You could also swap it for store-bought 1000 island if you prefer.

Build the Sandwich: Smear one slice of bread with sauce, add half the cheese, the corned beef, the kraut, the rest of the cheese. Smear sauce on the other slice of the bread and close the sandwich.

Grill the Sandwich: Add half the butter to the pan over medium heat and add sandwich. Smear it around and cook on both sides until then bread is golden and the cheese has melted.

Serve with more Sauce: Remove from heat and serve with remaining sauce!

What goes with a Reuben Grilled Cheese?

Since I highly recommend making these extra cheesy corned beef reubens with leftover guinness corned beef, you should also make these corned beef hash patties with the leftovers!

For sides, you could make this irish beer cheese mac and cheese or this red cabbage soup!

Frequently Asked Questions:

Origin of the Reuben Sandwich?

Although it is nearly historically impossible to pinpoint, The origin of the Reuben sandwich is believed to have started in Omaha, Nebraska, during the early 1900s. The sandwich is named after Reuben Kulakofsky, a Jewish Lithuanian-born grocer who lived in Omaha.

It is said that this delicious sandwich was created when Reuben Kulakofsky, asked the Blackstone Hotel's chef to make him a sandwich with corned beef and sauerkraut. Bernard Schimmel, who was supposedly the chef, put the ingredients together and it's been history ever since.

Is a Reuben made with corned beef or pastrami?

Reuben Sandwiches are traditional made with corned beef. If you want a Pastrami Reuben, you can ask for a Rachel Sandwich. But yo need to specifcy if you want pastrami or turkey as a Rachel sandwich can be made with both. As always, if you prefer a different flavor over another one, just do you and use what you like!

How do you get a reuben to stay crispy?

Since the sauerkraut has a lot of liquid in it, I recommend placing the fermented cabbage on a paper towel to soak up the excess moisture. This should keep your reuben crispy and delicious.

Save this recipe for later

Want to save this delicious corned beef reuben recipe for another time? I got you!

You can pin any image on this page or use the pretty ones I made below specifically for your Sandwich or St. Patrick's Day Recipe pinterest boards.

And if you don't already, feel free to follow me on pinterest, instagram, youtube, facebook, and tiktok for tasty inspiration shared daily!

And if pinterest isn't really your thing, you can always scroll down to the bottom of this post and print the printable recipe card.

Recipe

This post was originally published in March of 2017 and has been updated march 2024.